10k Mile Oil Change Interval too Long for Synthetic?

Well as far as Toyota verification of the 10K oil change, the thread in which the official announcement was made, including feedback from The Prius Team and official verification is actually a "sticky" in the Gen 3 Prius maintenance forum.

Some 2010 Toyota Vehicle Oil Change Intervals Officially Revised To 10000 miles/1 year (verified!) | PriusChat

I think we can debate whether WE personally believe in the practice, but the fact that Toyota currently promotes the 10K oil change with the Prius is established fact.

 

He's an auto repair shop owner. So what do you expect him to say? He's not going to tell you the truth because the truth would hurt his business. Even if there were dirt in the engine, the filter's job is to catch those dirt. If there's dirt that can't be caught by the filter, it's not going to come out from draining the oil anyway. He's not going to take the engine apart to clean, is he? Of course not.

He and people like him stand to gain from your ignorance and fear. When synthetic oil first hit the market, the oil manufacturers said the oil would last more than 10k and this claim is for gas-only car. With hybrids, the engine runs cooler, cleaner, and at a lower RPM. The engine even turns itself off when it's not needed. If synthetic oil could do 10k miles two decades ago, I'm sure it could do at least 10k miles today with a hybrid.

Oil change is starting to look more like an insurance business. The more fear the consumers have, the more money they could make.

 

I'm sure that this mechanic has done controlled laboratory and road tests, has an ample supply of new vehicles at his disposal for evaluation, has qualified technical staff, measurement systems, and knowledge to make this assessment.

 

I'm also sure this mechanic just wanted to "set the record straight" because he is so overwhelmed rebuilding ICE's due to stupid people following manufacturers recommendations for oil changes intervals. He has so much more experience and farther out on the curve about current and new oil technology and ICE development than auto manufacturers that he can speak with authority on the subject.

 

^Every vehicle has special circumstances. Change oil accordingly...


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I think some of the misconception is from decades ago, big V-8's running Penzoil, needed to change at 3k miles. That oil wasnt the best, but worked for ever in a VW Bug from the 60-70"s. Better oils have come about. thus they last a bit longer. 3, 5, 9 or 10K, change it when you like. If an automaker pulls your engine apart and it is full of gunk and casued the issue, its hard to say I changed the oil every 3k miles.

 

Hang on, I'm not advocating any particular interval. I was just responding to Ra3Boy's:

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I was agreeing...forgive me.





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I wonder how my Mazda 323 went over 200k miles and I only changed oil every 7k to 10k using cheap conventional oil. Maybe my Mazda 323 came with a specially made engine. That's IT!! I figured it out. Prius engine is just so much more inferior than that Mazda engine built 20 years old.

 

Reminds me of an oil filter ad "You can pay me now or pay me later".

DBCassidy

 

1) jnet is prius_in_pa, who trolled us mercilessly in the PiP forum until we finally starting reporting his posts.
2) For those who say that Toyota has no ulterior motive in lengthening the interval between oil changes, you must have missed the part where they are paying for all scheduled maintenance to 25K miles. Conveniently, this consists of two tire rotations and two synthetic oil changes at the 10K mile interval, and nothing else. The "Free Maintenance" was a marketing idea they came up with to boost customer retention at the dealerships, for "fixed operations" which is how they refer to parts and service. Also, most people who buy a new Prius aren't going to own the car long enough for the increased intervals to cause a failure in the event one occurs. By that time, they will have sold or traded in the car, and will be driving a newer vehicle.
3) As several people have pointed out, severe conditions usually consist of multiple short trips, stop and go traffic, etc. where the car never really gets up to operating temperature, and thus doesn't burn off the toxic contaminants produced by the combustion process. By definition, the Prius engine is operated under severe conditions, since the engine is constantly being switched on and off. Amsoil, the biggest proponent of synthetic oils reccomends a 7500 mile interval for their extended service oil WITH A FILTER CHANGE PARTWAY THROUGH the 7500 miles.
If I'm going to change the filter, I most definitely will be changing the oil.

 

I'm not sure what troll means. But I see a lot of PiP owners in the Prius forum BS-ing how great PiP is. So are they trolling? PiP could save you money only if you could charge it many times a day. It's something they ( PiP trolls) often leave out. Did I use that that term correctly? PiP trolls also often exaggerate their mpg because they don't include the cost of electricity. PiP trolls also don't mention that PiP couldn't really sell itself. It could only sell when there's tax and other incentives.

The next time you're at your dealer for service, walk around and see which department is busier; service or showroom. It's not that hard to figure out where their real money is coming from. This is one of the reason why some dealers don't want to sell EV's. They'll sell them to you but they don't really like selling them. They'd rather sell you a car that require their services.

 

I defined troll for you in the thread in the PiP subforum. The fact that you've now created a new identity to spread your misinformation speaks for itself.

Since the PiP owners are posting about how great their PiPs are in the PiP FORUM, that is not trolling. Trolling would be going on another car forum or subforum and posting about why that car sucks, and/or your car is better, which is what you did/are doing in the PiP forum, even though you don't own a PiP.

I worked at a Toyota dealer for 4 years, I don't need to do what you're suggesting to know that service is busier than sales. That is the same at ANY car dealership, however, particularly during a recession.

 

Amsoil? I stick with Mobil 1!!!

DBCassidy

 

When someone posted a question in the Prius forum asking about the "B" mode, there were PiP trolls touting how great PiP is for going down hill so "B" mode is not needed. Right. I should go out and buy a PiP for just going down hill. You people are pretty entertaining. Yeah, of course PiP is a better car, it should be better because it costs $5000 more before you ask the government to help you out with your bill. I'm not interested in hand outs and that's my choice. Even with the tax credit, I will still have a hard time getting my investment back in savings because I only could charge once a day. Why don't you start educating people instead of BS-ing them by just pointing out the positive and then leaving out the negatives.

I've been a project manager for a few years. There's one thing that pisses the management off the most and that is expensive equipment sits idling. If we were going to buy expensive equipment, we must keep it running 24/7. Same principle applies to PiP. It is a great car if you have the opportunity to charge the battery frequently. Otherwise, it's like letting an expensive equipment sitting idle. Also, if you're a low mileage driver, PiP is for you if you think it's a toy and you just love EV's. However, don't get your hopes up if you're looking for momentary returns.

 

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AMSOIL is the BOMB!

I remember when they said 25K or 1 year. I don't think they backed off because it wasn't true, but rather because it exposed them to liability.

The ideal setup is a redundant oil filtration system. So long as your filters are good, the oil isn't the problem if it's high-quality stuff. The problem with oil is a combination of thermal breakdown and contamination from miles/months of use. High-end synthetics avoid these problem, but then you have the second issue...filtration. The best oil filter will get clogged over time and if it's too clogged, it goes into bypass mode and lets dirty oil recirculate in the engine. Most car owners won't install a redundant oil filter or routinely change the filter, so AMSOIL probably realized that promoting people to do 25K a year was asking for trouble.

On my truck, I use AMSOIL and I do as they suggest...I change the oil filter in 6 months (winter) and top off the oil to compensate for what is lost in the old filter. ALWAYS BUY QUALITY OIL FILTERS! I've been changing the oil once a year since not long after I got the truck and it's over 200K now with no engine-related mechanical issues.

The bigger concern is how going extended intervals will affect any warranty issue. The Prius isn't your standard "internal combustion engine" so I don't know how much "wear" it takes compared to a traditional motor. If you have a high quality filter (Purolator One gets very good scores) and a high-quality synthetic, I'd think there's nothing to fear except a bean counter saying not changing the oil as recommended voids your warranty.

FWIW, I also use AMSOIL on my motorcycle...which qualifies as "extreme duty." I've put more than 15K in one year with no added oil or filter change. Last I took off the header to do some required inspection and maintenance, the engine parts were SPOTLESS with about 80,000 miles on the bike.

 

25k or 1 year between oil change? Why not? My old Mazda 323 went over 200k. I've only use cheap conventional oil for this car every 7k to 10k, depending on how I feel. The engine ran great up until I couldn't start it one day. I sold the car to a mechanic and he fixed it and it ran great again. I bet if you use quality oil on the Prius, it could go 25k easily. But dealers wouldn't want people to know that.

 

Exactly!

Those pesky Lobbyists!